My first Mazak on the way!

I just bought a 1999 Quickturn 6T. In fact, it's on the truck making its 2000 mile journey as I type. It will be going in my new shop in our back yard. It will be another month or so until the shop is finished, so the lathe will go in the garage until then. I would like to use this time to go over the entire machine and get it ready for reliable service. I've been in industrial maintenance for the last 25 years and am confident my mechanical, electrical, pneumatic and hydraulic knowledge is up to the task. I checked out the machine in operation before I purchased it and feel it's been very well taken care of and not abused. I couldn't believe how quiet the spindle was, even at 6K rpm. I just want to make sure it's 100% before I move it into the shop.

I am looking for suggestions from experienced owners on what things to inspect/adjust/replace. Not the obvious stuff, but problems that are known to surface over time that could be prevented with proper maintenance.

Things that I am concerned about and feel deserve special attention:

1) The spindle/motor: I imagine this would be big money to repair/replace. Is there any type of service that can be performed on it to maximize its life?

2) Software/parameter backup: The machine is up and running fine right now, so it's a good time to backup whatever I can. What should I do so I'm prepared for the worst? Are there any memory batteries to replace?

3) Electrolytic capacitors: It's going on 12 years old, and my experience tells me that filter capacitors are reaching their useful life expectancy and may start leaking/failing. Is this something I should be concerned about, especially in critical areas (spindle drive, for example)?

4) Turret: Any known issues with them that can be fixed before they turn into expensive repairs?

5) Power up/down: I will be running this on a RPC, so it will be powered down at the end of the day and boot up in the morning. Will this possibly pose any problems? If so, how can I prevent them?

I'm sure there are more things to check and I welcome everyone’s suggestions. Thanks!

Not Mazak specific:

1) Not that I know of - other than keep it from sweating maybe. ??? (semi heated storage)

2) Be sure to doo this while the machine is powered UP!

3) From what I hear - the Jap caps last good. It's the older Kraut caps that go bad. A '99 Jap machine is prolly fine?

4) ???

5) Just keep the disconnect off untill after the RPC is up to speed. Don't let it all come up together. Prolly won't "hurt" anything, but the under/uneven current during boot-up could make it flakey?


Couldn't find one any closer to home?


BTW - Welcome aboard and great first post!



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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Mohawk Machinery off of Glendale Rd. in Cincinnati has for sale a Quick Turn 6G (Gang tooling). They have had it for a long time. It appears to be in good shape. It has a bar feeder. Maybe they would sell that separately if it is something you are interested in.

Be sure to back up the parameters on the MRJ2 drives. This is in addition to the machine parameters. It is backed up by a battery. If that battery dies, then your parameters are gone. Replace the battery with the machine power on.

Thanks for the warm welcome. No, I couldn't find one closer and I've been looking for a couple of months. I found one other that came with a gantry loader. It was way overpriced and I don't have room for the loader anyway. A small bar feeder might come in handy though...

Sorry, I don't know what a MRJ2 drive is.

I just thought of something. The lathe will be on the road for 7 days. How likely would it be for the batteries to drain during this time and all memory be lost? This could turn into a nightmare...

Keep the suggestions coming!

If the machine wasn't throwing a low batt alarm before, I would like to think that it will last quite a while w/o power on that new of a machine.

80's tech - sometimes won't last but several hours.


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

We've got a couple hundred Mazaks on our floor from '91 up. No issues with caps going bad. You occasionally lose a 24V PS or Servo PS and sometimes a drive, but it's a rare thing and they don't typically give warning, just "Puke" and done. The Mits controls Mazak uses are pretty bulletproof.
Definitely back up the parameters. Which control does it have? '99 was the changeover year from the T+/T32 to the Fusion control and they did it by model type, so it could be either.

The spindle should be fine. I'd be suspect of the way wipers.

This one has the T+ control. I'll add way wipers to the list, thanks.

Keep the suggestions coming. There must be more than this...

Welcome to PM!

Once you learn Mazatrol, you are going to love your QT 6T. Wait, does your 6T have Mazatrol, or is it the EIA found on some of those machines? Mazatrol will make you fall in love...g-code your gonna be cussing for a while.

Your machine should have a disk in the electrical cabinet with parameter backup. Also should be a hard copy. Worst case, take digital pictures of all your parameter pages. Mitsubishi and Mazak keep all machine parameters on file, so you're covered.

Don't worry about your spindle/servo drives, capacitors, and turret. They all should work fine for years. You just run the machine till something pukes, then fix it.

I would change the hydraulic oil. Shops seem to NEVER do this!

Unbolt and slide the way covers back, to clean all chips and gunk, and give her a good visual inspection.

Aside from changing a couple of batteries, you should be good to go!

Greg

Thanks Greg, good info for us newbies !

I'm not sure how it is set up. It was advertised as having Mazatrol T Plus Control with EIA/ISO option. I'm not sure what that means. Would it be Mazatrol, g-code or both? I have heard that Mazatrol is very easy to learn and I should be able to turn out some sample parts in a week or two.

When you say "disk in the electrical cabinet", do you mean a hard drive?

I will have to change the oil. All fluids had to be emptied out before the driver would take it. Speaking of oil, I have a few gallons of Tellus 32 here. Is that OK for the hydraulics? Also, any opinions on what coolant to use? 95% of the work will be 6AL-4V Ti.

Cleaning under the way covers added to the list.

Thanks for taking the time to reply! Keep em coming...

The QT6 should have a 3.5" floppy disk in the electrical cabinet, along with a hardcopy of the parameters.

The maintenance manual will list acceptable oils, I believe Tellus 32 is listed. Any good hydraulic oil is good.

For cutting Titanium, I would recommend a name-brand soluble oil. Solubles will give you better lubrication than a full or semi- synthetic. Some good brands are Blaser, Hangstefers, Castrol, Qualichem....

If your machine has the T-Plus control, yes, it will have Mazatrol. The EIA option can come in handy, if you ever want to run g-code programs. CAM systems output in g-code. But, for 2-axis turning, Mazatrol is the cat's meow...

cnctoolcat said:

If your machine has the T-Plus control, yes, it will have Mazatrol. The EIA option can come in handy, if you ever want to run g-code programs. CAM systems output in g-code. But, for 2-axis turning, Mazatrol is the cat's meow...

Click to expand...

Greg, tried to post a cat pic for fun, anyhow so happy we chose the
T+ with EIA ! Will get our machine picked-up next couple days if all goes well.

Qt6 T plus

Hello,

I have one of these for a couple of years. Real tight tolerances, just real small.
First thing I would do is pull the block that transmits coolant from the carrage housing to the turret. Replace the o-rings, Mazak sells a rebuild kit for it. Do not be supprised when you get it if it dose not leak hyd, oil from there if it has been sitting from there.
I forgot why they were even using hyd. oil in there but do not let these parts wear out, big bucks!
The E.I.A. option on a T+ is a $5000.00 upgrade, if you do not want to use Mazatrol you will need it and if you use any c.a.m. system you will also need it.

More than likely you will not have a disk reader, that is an option on the T+.
Funny thing is that you will more than likely not be able to tell when the machine was made, all of the components will have different dates.
From what Mazak told me they made a whole bunch of parts for these and they did not sell like they thought they could so they were putting them together sometimes a year or two after some of the components were made.

The machine was great, good luck!

LandM1

Lots of good info so far. Keep it coming. The truck will be here at 9:00 am tomorrow. Looks like I'm not getting any sleep tonight...

The lathe arrived this morning safe and sound, but incomplete. The coolant tank didn't make it on the truck. Hopefully the seller finds it and gets it to me quick.

There was no disc or hardcopy of the parameters in the electrical cabinet. There are 8 books that came with the lathe. The hardcopy may be in one of the books, but I haven't looked through them yet. Where are the backup batteries? I can't find them anywhere and I'm getting nervous about losing everything. I can't power it up yet, as I'm still building the RPC. Is there a way to run just the controler with single phase?

Heres'a few pics of my day.

A few more...

Great little machine! It's been awhile since I changed an MR-J2 battery, but they should be behind the a little plastic pop-off cover on the front of the drives (the smaller white boxes with the black screen at the top of the front face). Regardless, DON'T TOUCH THEM until the machine is powered on.

Wow!

Must be handy to be able to just use the cherry picker to lift it off the truck eh?

Man I make parts bigger'n that machine!


I really think your getting WAY too nervous about those batts. ???


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

I rented a 6000lb. forklift and it was still scary as hell getting it off the truck. Almost all the weight was on one fork.

Maybe I am over-reacting about the backup batteries. I really wouldn't care at all if I had some sort of backup, but so far I have nothing. Having to give Mazak a few hundred bucks for a parameter list would certainly ruin my day...

I was looking over the wiring diagram of the machine and found that the NC unit, operating panel and relay boards are all powered off the 100v tap of the transformer. Is it safe to power these up with 115v, or would that be too much over?

Is it safe to power these up with 115v, or would that be too much over?

Click to expand...

CNC equipment is rated at nominal voltage +-10%. So, the 100v nc unit should be fed 90 to 110 volts. 115 may be pushing your luck.

The machine itself is 220V +-10%. So, make sure your rpc output is between 198V and 242V. Better to be lower than high. Anything above 242V, and you are taking a chance on cooking the spindle and servo drives. Ask me how I know??

Make sure you get your coolant pan. If not, you don't want to price one from Mazak. Would be dollars ahead to get the local sheet metal shop to fab you a new one from stainless steel!

I agree with Ox, don't sweat the batteries too much. A T-Plus control Mazak can probably set 1 or 2 years without power, and be fine.

Good luck with your new Mazak! And remember, we are here to help.

Greg